KCCS Hardware Updates/Notices
May 2001 - 48volt DC power system
Over the last two months a new power system has been installed, this is
a 48volt DC rated system and is based on a 40amp by 56volt DC charger unit,
four 12volt DC sealed batteries rated at 120amp/hour at 48Volts, a 1Kilowatt
110V AC sine-wave inverter and 48Volt DC power supplies (replacing AC power
supplies) in the two Cisco 7507 routers, the Cisco 3640 and 4700 routers,
the Cisco 5505 switch, an Axil 320 and a Sun Netra 1120 system.
The inverter supplies power to three PC based systems, i.e. the two WCCP
cache servers and a secondary dns server.
Further systems will be connected as DC power supplies become availabe for
them.
March 2001 - WCCP cache severs and another 7507 router
From December last year the PC system aklobs.org.nz, KC news server,
running Linux, has also been used as a limited resoure WCCP inline,
transparent, cache server. This cache proved quite effective and trouble
free so two new PC systems, Intel PentiumIII/866Mhz, 512M memory, 36Gb
disk space, running FreeBSD, and Squid configured as a WCCP (vers 1) transparent
cache server were installed early March. One system worked perfectly from
installation, power supply problems with the second were resolved and it
went online a week later. These two servers have been built into 19inch
industrial quality rack mounting cases and installed in the same rack as
the Cisco 7507.
Several new VIP2-50 controllers and a new PA-MC-8E1/120 card have been
purchased this month for the Cisco 7507. Three of the VIP2-50 will
be used in the 7507 with an ATM PA, two ethernet PA, a 4 port serial PA and
the 8 port E1 PA.
A second Ciso 7507 chassis with power supplies was also purchased in March.
This router will use an RSP2 CPU, two VIP2-50 controllers, a VIP2-40
controller and two ethernet PA, an ATM PA and a 4 port G703 PA.
December 2000 - 7507 router (again!)
In just the last three months all of KC's hardware has moved to new offices
in Queen Street, Auckland. Five new 7feet tall 19inch rack frames have been
installed, a 48VDC battery power system with 3Kw DC charger, DC power
supplies in the Cisco 7507 and inverters for 230VAC power systems have
been installed.
After reviewing the ATM card requirements for the 7507 the two PA-A3-OC3SML
cards have been sold and replaced with two new PA-A3-OC3SMI cards.
Two PA-A3-OC3MM atm cards have also been obtained. The SMI (intermediate
reach Single mode fibre) cards are for connecting to Telecom NZ ATM - one live
and a spare. The Multimode cards are for the Clear ATM connection, again
one live and a spare.
The planned use of the POS controller has now not happened and it was also
sold.
August 2000 - 7507 router
With the planned move of all KCCS core services to new offices in Queen Street,
Auckland, several new interfaces have been obtained for the Cisco 7507 router.
These are:
A 155Mbit Packet over Sonet PA-POS-OC3SMI interface, single mode fibre,
intermediate reach.
Two 155Mbit enhanced ATM interfaces, PA-A3-OC3SML, single mode fibre,
long reach.
The second of these ATM controllers will arrive first week September 2000,
and will be a spare standby interface.
Initially the ATM interface and POS interface will be connected to a VIP2-50
interface processor in KC's 7507 router.
June 2000 - 7507 router
An eight port serial card CX-FSIP8 was obtained for the 7507 in June
and a PA-4E four port 10baseTx ethernet controller in late May.
The PA-4E replaces the temporary CX-EIP6 and is itself temporary until a
PA-8E becomes available.
Four dual port G703/75 port cards were also obtained for the FSIP8 and it
is currently installed and configured with six E1 serial ports (X21)
and two G703/75 ports. A second, spare, FSIP8 is now being considered as
a backup.
In late June the three Centrex ISDN circuits on the 7507 were moved to the
3640 router. One of these PRI is to be disconnected in June as it is now
excess capacity.
The 7507 IOS was upgraded to IOS 12.1(2)T the last weekend of June.
April 2000 - 7507 router
A six port CX-EIP6 ethernet controller was obtained for the Cisco 7507
router as more switched ports were needed for remote networks connecting
to this router.
Although originally planned to obtain a PA-8E eight port 10baseTX interface
processor for a VIP2-40 in the 7507, the CX controller was immediately
available and will provide a temporary solution until a PA-8E is
available.
February 2000 - KC modem Server
In late February the as5200 modem server at KC was replaced by a Cisco
3640 set up as a modem server with sixty v90 (MICA) modems.
This change was to allow the as5200 to be relocated to Citinet ISP.
January 2000 - New Sun Servers
A Sun Ultra 2 (two 300mhz cpus) system and a Sun Ultra1-170 have
replaced the two Axil Ultima 1 systems that have provided all
major services on the KC network for the last 2 years.
A Sun SS5-110 system has also been installed as a new web server
at KCCS, this will provide hosting services for business sites
and user homepages, these services will then be removed from the
Ultra1-170 system.
Two more PA-2CE1 controlers for the Cisco 7507 were obtained this
month and will provide interfaces for two more Centrex PRI and
two stacked wideband (channelised) DDS. One each of these was
installed at KCCS in December last year and the PRI was commissioned
on 1 January. With the arrival of these interface cards both
Cisco 4700 and 3640 routes at KCCS have been made redundant (again!).
Other parts ordered this month include a dual ethernet interface for
a Cisco 4700 and a 30modem controller for the 3640. The 4700
will be moving to a new ISP business at Citinet along with two
Cisco as5200 routers, one of which is currently used for dial in
services at KCCS. The 3640 will then become KC's main dial in
server with 60 modems.
November 1999 - Router additions
More interface controllers for the Cisco 7507 router. Two more fast ethernet
controllers (a PA-FE-FX and a second PA-FE-TX) were installed this month.
The 7507 now connects to the 5505 switch via 100baseFX. The two 100baseTX
connect to the Planet network and to a network of telehoused systems.
A fourth 100base (FX) card will be arriving this month.
A new Cisco VIP2-40 controller was purchased for two of these 100base
ethernet controllers.
These latest additions now mean that the 7507 router is fully configured,
all interface slots are now used.
October 1999 - New CIsco 5000 switch
The new Cisco 5505 switch with Supervisor 2 (WS-X5506) was installed.
This Sup2 has two 100baseFX ports. Two WS-X5213A 12 port 10/100 autosense
ISL controllers are installed. The existing 5002 switch was moved to
a new network that manages telehoused servers and two fo KC's ftp servers.
September 1999 - Router changes
A Cisco 4700M router was purchased this month to act as a hot standby
system for KC's Cisco 7507 router. The 4700 has three controllers,
a fast ethernet, a 4 port G703 and a 4 port serial.
This 4700M replaces the 4500M which has now been redeployed to another
location.
A Cisco 5505 ethernet switch has been ordered to replace the existing
Cisco 5002 switch. The 5505 will be delivered with a Supervisor 2
and a 24 port 10/100 baset controller. A route switch processer for
the 5505 is also to be ordered before the end of this year. This will
provide VLAN routing services on the 5505 which will become necessary as
KC will be hosting other networks in the near future.
August 1999 - Router additions
An opportunity to purchase a four port G703 controller for a Cisco 4500
router at substantially less than the normal price, has now allowed
a redundant Cisco 4500 at KC to be used as a main backup router for the
7507..
This controller can connect various Megalink circuits to KC and an
existing four port serial card can connect several high speed serial
connections.
(configuration Cisco 4500M, NP-4GB, NP-4T, NP-FE).
In conjunction with a Cisco 3640 router with eight channelised E1 ports
the 4500 system can (just!) provide backup for all existing circuits
(Megalink, Serial, PRI and Stacked Wideband) into KC.
The 3640/4500 routers will be replaced when a Cisco 7505 router chassis
becomes available.
August 1999 - Cisco 7507 router additions
Several new interface controllers were obtained for the Cisco 7507 router
this month. These include:
An RSP4 cpu module, this is a second processor card for the 7507 and
will work as the main processor with the existing RSP2 becoming a hot
backup,
A new VIP2-50 interface processor, which replaces an existing VIP2-40,
An 8 port channelised E1 controller (for the VIP2-50), this will replace
one PA-2CE1 dual channelised E1 controller, the total number of cE1
ports will now be twelve,
and a data encryption controller (to work with a 2 port PA-2CE1
controller) providing data encrytion services for secure transaction
processing with several of KC's connecting sites.
These upgrades allow additional stacked wideband DDS and Primary Rate ISDN
circuits to be installed at KC. There are now two Centrex ISDN and four
channelised E1 circuits connecting into the 7507. These hardware upgrades
are to allow two more Centrex PRI and two more cE1 circuits to be added by
the end of 1999.
Further planned router upgrades by the end of this year include a Cisco
7505 system to act as a standby backup for the 7507 router, replacing Cisco
4500m and 3640 routers currently retained for backup to the 7507.
May 1999 - New PC based news server
A new Pentium II/400 PC system with 36Gbytes of disk storage has replaced
an Axil Ultra1 system as KC's news server. The increasing costs of maintaining
the Axil system were no longer cost effective when compared to the relatively
low cost of using a new PC based computer for KC's news server.
A PII 400Mhz system was chosen to become the news server, this has 256megs
of memory and three EIDE disk drives, one 10gig drive and two 13gig drives.
Using Linux operating system this news server has over twice the disk
capacity of the Axil system and costs a fraction of the cost to upgrade
the Axil (which is no longer manufactured).
As part of this change the INN news management software was also upgraded to
the latest release, a new TIN newsreader was made available to KC users
and nntp access was made available to all sites linking to KC.
March 1999 - New Cisco 5200 modem server
A new Cisco as5200 modem server with sixty MICA v90 modems was installed
in mid March. This server replaces a CIsco 3640 and an older Cisco as5200
with Microcom modems. The 3640 is being upgraded with new MICA modem
carrier cards and will provide an additional thirty dial in lines plus
provide backup channelised E1 ports.
July 1998 - Cisco 7507 router
A new Cisco 7507 was installed at KC in mid June. As controllers and
interface cards were obtained during June and July this 7507 took over
from two 3640 and a 4500 router at KC.
It now is KC's main router and connects three stacked wideband DDS, four
Megalink circuits, two Centrex Primary rate ISDN and three low speed DDS.
The 7507 is a seven slot router chassis with two slots reserved for route
switch processors and five for interface controllers. The 7507 at KC has
a single RSP2 route switch processor and so far three
VIP2-40
interface controllers. Each VIP2-40
has two interface bays. There are six interface cards in use, these are:
a fast ethernet controller connecting the 7507 to the Cisco Catalyst 5002,
three dual channelised E1 interface providing 6 cE1 ports,
a 4 port G703/G704 interface card,
a 4 port enhanced serial card.
Two
VIP2-50
interface controllers are the next planned upgrade to the 7507.
One VIP2-50 will replace the VIP2-40 currently connecting the G703/G704
interface, this upgrade will be in place before end July 1998.
The second VIP2-50 is planned to interface a second 703/G704 interface card
and a multi-channel E3 interface. This upgrade is at least 2 months away and
is dependant on Telecom NZ's ability to install the E3 circuit.
A second AC power supply will be fitted to the 7507 chassis in the next
few weeks and the last upgrade will be a Route Switch Processor RSP4,
expected within the next 3 to 4 months.
April 1998 - New Cisco 3640 router, Cisco 5200 modem server
A second Cisco 3640 router was installed this month. This router has
three E1 2meg channelised ports, one used for stacked wideband DDS (SWA KCC3)
the second used for a 2meg link to Iconz in central Auckland and the third is
spare. This router also has two x21 ports (WICS in an ethernet controller)
which will be used to connect two of the remaining four 48K MDDS connections
to KC.
The first Cisco 3640 has also been upgraded and now has four channelised
E1 ports and a digita modem controller with twelve MICA modems. This router
connects to two Centrex Primary Rate ISDN and a stacked wideband DDS (SWA KCC2).
The modems provide a backup dial in service made available on one of the
Centrex PRI.
A new Cisco 5200 modem server replaces the original two 5200 modem servers
used at KC. This new server has sixty K56flex modems. The other two 5200s
have been redeployed, one to Blenhein and one to Tauranga. Two new PRI
connected to the Ellerslie exchange now provide all of the dial in services
to KC via this 5200.
September 1997 - New AXIL Ultra 200E for kcbbs, Cisco 5002 ethernet switch
A new AXIL Ultra 200E was delivered this month to replace the Sun Sparc4-110
system that is currently kcbbs.gen.nz
This Ultra has both fast ethernet network interface and a wide fast scsi
interface. Initially two internal Seagate Barracuda drives will be used, a
2gig drive and a 4.3gig drive.
Solaris 2.5.1 operating system is installed and during late September and
early October the various system programs currently in use on the SS4 will
be rebuilt for the AXIL.
The kcbbs web site, currently on the SS$, will not move to the AXIL, instead
this will now be hosted on the Sun Ultra 140E which will also become a
web cacheing system for KC.
A new Cisco 5002 ethernet switch system will be replacing the existing
Cisco 2800 switch. The 5002 is a two slot chassis which has one slot used
by a management engine and the second slot will have a twelve port 10baseT/
100baseT autoselecting controller. This system will provide fourteen switched
100baseT ports, two on the engine and twelve on the controller.
These cards can be moved to a Cisco 5000 5 slot chassis if KC expands to
require additional ethernet switching resources.
July 1997 - Cisco routers/Modem Servers and new PRI ISDN
The new Cisco 3640 was installed in early July on the KC network. Although
initially planned to only connect KC's Centrex Primary Rate ISDN this router
is now also connecting a second stacked wideband DDS. A delay in obtaining
a fast ethernet interface for this router delayed its installation until July
when the new 100Mbit 100baseT interface arrived.
The main KC network now uses a single Cisco 4500 to connect a stacked wideband
DDS and a 2Mbit Megalink circuit, the second Cisco 4500M has now been
relocated to Newmarket where a Centrex Primary Rate ISDN recently taken over
from Acorn Computers is located. This 4500M will be used for a month or two
until replaced either with a Cisco 3620 router or more likely a Cisco AS5200
modem server.
May 1997 - New Cisco routers for DDS links
Several new model Cisco routers were obtained this month to provide channelised
E1 services for new stacked wideband DDS circuits. The first of these new
SWDDS is installed at Waikato University on May 27 and the existing Cisco
2514 router there is replaced by a new Cisco 3620. This 3620 has a cE1
interface and two ethernet interfaces, one of which connects to a network
segment with three radio connections that KCCS connects to the internet.
A new Cisco 3640 with two cE1 interfaces is installed at KCCS in Auckland.
This replaces a Cisco 4000M router. The second new SWDDS link is at KCCS
and the 3640 will connect a Primary Rate ISDN currently connected to a
Cisco 4500M router. The 4500 will then manage the two stacked wideband DDS
at KCCS.
A third new Cisco router, another 3620, will replace a Cisco 4000M at
Napier as another new SWDDS service is installed there in July. Again this
will have two ethernet interfaces as well as the cE1 controller. The
second ethernet there also provides connectivity to an ethernet segment
which has a radio connection.
Image: Cisco 3640/3620 routers
February 1997 - News server Raid disk system
The Axil UltraSparc 200E had a new raid disk subsystem installed. In
addition to the existing Seagate Barracuda ST13150W 4.3gig wide scsi, three
more Barracuda ST34371 disks were installed. Two of these are the SCA
connector version which were installed inside the Axil. One is the normal
wide scsi connector version and this with the original ST13150W are
installed in an external case. This provides a total of 16.5gigs of
space. The external case is a 4 bay version and two further disks can
be added as needed.
The three ST34371 drives are identical drive geometry and each is 4.05 gigs
formatted capacity. Solaris disk suite 4.1 is used to provide Raid 1
disk striping over these drives. There are three 3gig striped partitions
providing a 9gig meta-drive for usenet news. There are two further meta-drives
using striping that are 1.2gigs and 1.4gigs in size which are used for
www and files areas. The original drive will be the boot drive (Solaris
2.5.1) and also maintain the news log files, archive files and inn history
databases. Swap space is provided in partitions on all drives and OS
backups are held in a root partition on each of the four drives.
January 1997 - New News Server for KCCS - Axil UltraSparc 200E
Axil Ultra 200E with 128megs of memory and 5.2 gigs of disk.
This is the latest update to KC's hardware and replaced a Sun
Sparc 20/71 as KC's news server in January 1997. This Axil model has a
fast ethernet port (100Mbit) and a fast wide scsi disk interface. An
external Seagate Barracuda 4.2 gig drive and cabinet was also purchased.
An internal wide scsi disk drive was also installed. This system will be
further upgraded to 256megs of memory and a RAID disk subsystem.
This system runs Solaris 2.5.1 Operating System and INN version 1.5.1 news
manager software.
A 100Mbit fast ethernet port in the Axil Ultra will connect directly to a
switched 100Mbit fast ethernet port in the Cisco 2800 Ethernet switch.
The Sun Ultra 1-140 system (see below) will eventually replace the Axil as
KC's news server when a Sun Swift Sbus controller can be obtained - this
provides a wide scsi disk interface and a fast ethernet capability.
A Sun Ultra 1-140 with 128megs of memory and 3.2 gigs of disk.
This is going to become KC's news system, and is currently used as a Web
development system. This system runs Solaris 2.5 operating system
Image: Ultra Sparc 1-140
A Cisco AS5200 access server provides thirty dial in analogues 33k6/
ISDN digitial lines to the KC network via a Primary Rate ISDN 2meg
circuit. The modems are Microcom Select types using Rockwell 33k6
controllers.
KC's existing PRI ISDN will now has all 30 B channels enabled
so that ISDN connections in the Auckland CBD (Central Business
District) can connect via a BRI and become linked into KC's BBG (Centrix
Basic Business Group). This will provide low cost permanent connections
at either 64Kbit or 128Kbit into KC.
Of the 30 channels 25 are used
for Centrix permanent connections with the remaining five used to open second
channels when traffic demands get high.
This PRI will continue to connect into a cE1 port in KC's 4500 router.
This move to Centrix ISDN will provide substantial savings for many of
KC's existing customers who connect via MDDS. It is expected that most
if not all customers in the CBD will convert to ISDN connections.
The ultimate hardware update, hopefully not in the too distant future...
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Last modified: 10 May 2001.